Nightmares
by Mac1
Summary: A series of stories concerning haunting memories.
1. Nightmare 1

Title: Nightmare 1  
Author: Mac  
Spoilers: none  
Rating: ::scratches head:: PG, just to be on the safe side  
Summary: I don't think so, but this was inspired by Sunday night's episode of Touched By An Angel. (The one where Bud tells Tess why the painting of the child is so important to him)  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own them and never will, so don't sue.  
  
Thanks to Nicole for the encouragement. You're the best!  
  
*********  
The jungle night was still as always. There's a gathering of children around the campfire. I relaxed momentarily, enjoying the sight of joy, of laughter. Then all hell broke lose.  
  
The first sign of the trouble came in the form of an explosion followed by screams. The children's screams are what remain etched in my mind. I don't remember what happened next. I just reacted. When the smoke finally clears, I see the aftermath.  
  
Bodies were everywhere, man and child alike. The group of children is no more. Their mangled bodies surround the campfire. My mind screams in agony. Why? Why did they have to attack us? WHY!?  
  
I wake up, my sheets soaked with sweat. It was only a dream I tell myself as my heart eat slows down. It was only a nightmare. The same nightmare I've had for the last thirty years and I still don't have an answer.  
  
The End  



	2. Nightmare 2

Title: Nightmare 2  
Author: Mac  
Rating: G  
Spoilers: none that I know of, except any eps that mention Harm's crash  
Summary: Nope, don't want to.  
  
Disclaimers: Don't own them and never will.  
AN: May want to read Nightmare, but don't need to.  
  
*********  
Same night.  
  
"Pull up, Harm! Pull up!"  
  
The carrier loomed in front of me; I knew it was there. I couldn't see it, but I knew it was there, that I would strike the deck. I couldn't correct my position. My vision was blurred. Then it happened, just like always, I punched out and got lucky. My RIO and my friend wasn't so lucky, he died.  
  
'I should have been the one; it should have been me! ' my mind screams. I wake with a start and look at the clock. One AM, I groan. 'May be I should call Mac. I'll be able to sleep after talking with Mac. It doesn't have to be about anything particular, I just need to hear her voice.' I reach for the phone and hesitated. 'No, she's probably asleep. I don't want to wake her, worry her with my problems.' I bring my arm back and pull a pillow over my head. 'May be I can get some sleep before my alarm goes off.  
  
The End  



	3. Nightmare 3

Title: Nightmare 3  
Author: Mac  
Rating: G  
Spoilers: none  
Summary: Not going to happen  
  
Disclaimers: Don't own them and never will. The song excerpt is from Hollow Eyes by Petra, in their album Beat the System.  
  
A.N.: May want to read Nightmare 1 and Nightmare 2, but you don't have to.  
Love feedback.  
  
********  
Same night  
  
The little girl just stared at me. She was one of the few children that had survived the bombing of a daycare center. Slowly words from a song she had heard once, a long time ago, filled her head.  
  
In the crowded sheds the children lay their heads  
To escape the Haitian heat  
The hunger pains drive them to the street  
Wondering if today they'll eat some found food in the refuse heap  
Others find disease  
Some find it harder just to live  
When they can die with ease  
  
Do you dare to look into their hollow eyes  
  
I reached into my pack for the beef jerky I keep with me in case I get hungry. That's when I hear the gunshots. Before I can react, the little girl is dead. I wasn't fast enough. I could have saved her. 'It should have been me that took the bullet not her!' my mind screams in frustration. 'It should have been me.'  
  
I wake with a start. My only thought at this point is to call Harm. I reach for the phone when I notice the time. One AM, Harm is probably asleep. He doesn't need to hear my problems in the middle of the night. I lay back down, willing sleep to claim me again. It doesn't. Frustrated, I think back to what uncle Matt said to me twelve years ago- "Write it down. If you come close to bursting, write it down, let the paper hear what you have to say."  
  
I get up and walk over to my desk. My journal is still there and I begin to write.  
  
The End  



	4. Nightmare 4

Title: Nightmare 4  
Author: Mac  
Spoilers: none  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimers: Don't own them, and never will. Song excerpt from "Somewhere Down the Road" by Amy Grant (album: Behind the Eyes).  
  
AN: Thanks to Nicole for telling me to go for it and special thanks to my roommate for listening to me mutter and all while writing this series.  
Feedback appreciated.  
  
*******  
0800, the next morning  
Falls Church, VA  
  
Harm and Mac arrived at JAG simultaneously. They looked at each other hoping for a smile from the other to start their day on after a restless night. Mac took note of Harm's slightly less than stellar appearance and lack of the morning smile that she knew so well. 'Something's wrong,' she thought.  
  
Harm noted that Mac looked fine to the ordinary observer, but he wasn't just an ordinary observer, he was her partner and best friend. He looked into her eyes, the spark that he normally saw was absent. 'Something isn't right,' he mulled, trying to think of anything that would cause the spark's absence.  
  
Not getting what they both were hoping for, they turned to their own thoughts. The elevator ride was almost deathly silent as the partners rode up to JAG OPS. They headed straight for their own offices to drop off their belongings before heading to kitchen for some caffeine. They both needed a good, strong cup before they started on their cases.  
  
The Admiral was already in the kitchen when they arrived, working on his forth cup of coffee since he got there at 0700. Harm and Mac stood at attention briefly before being put "As you were" and each grabbed a cup of coffee. Mac and Harm yawned before taking their first sip.  
  
"I'm not even going to ask," the Admiral said before yawning into his own cup. Harm and Mac glanced at each other, daring the other to comment on the Admiral's own yawn before returning to their own thoughts.  
  
The three of them stood across from each other, lost in thought and not paying attention to the others. Finally, the silent trio broke up and headed for their respective offices to start the day.  
  
On each desk was a small, white envelope. No name was written on it. Harm and the Admiral stared at the envelope then set it aside to read later. Mac, on the other hand, stared at the envelope for five minutes, debating whether to open it now or wait for lunch. Putting on her best Marine look, she decided to open it now. Two minutes later silent tears were streaming down her face. Slowly, she wiped her tears away and whispered "thank you" to the little girl from her dream.  
  
*****  
1200 EST  
Harm's office, JAG HQ  
  
Curiosity getting the better of him, Harm decided to open the mysterious white envelope. When he finished reading the note, Harm wiped his eyes and quietly said "thank you" to his empty office. He felt a calmness reach inside him. Smiling for the first time that day, Harm left his office to have lunch with his best friend.  
  
*****  
1700 EST  
Admiral Chedwiggen's office, JAG HQ  
  
The Admiral had been staring at the white envelope he found on his desk that morning for nearly twenty minutes. He knew he should open it, but part of him was afraid. Finally, muttering something about being a SEAL, he opened the envelope. When he left his office ten minutes later, he had tears in his eyes.  
  
That night all three officers got their first good night's sleep in years.  
  
------------------  
I smiled. My job here was finished. No one will know what I've done, well, no one but the three people at JAG Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. And even they don't know who helped them. I am a wanderer, the one who helps guide lost souls to where they need to go, the one who tries to alleviate the guilt and regret of things that some think they should have been able to prevent, but couldn't.  
  
I bet you're wondering what was in those envelopes. Do you really want to know? I laugh, of course you do; I should know better than to ask.  
  
So much pain and no good reason why  
You've cried until the tears run dry  
Nothing here can make you understand  
The one thing that you held so dear  
Is slipping from your hand  
And you say  
  
Why, why, why  
Does it go this way  
Why, why, why  
And all I can say  
  
Somewhere down the road  
There'll be answers to the questions  
Somewhere down the road  
Tho' we cannot see it now  
And somewhere down the road  
You will find mighty arms reaching for you  
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road  
  
The End  



End file.
